History of corporate communication

By Bihongoye Erica, BAPRM 42535

Think about your job right now. Could you complete it without any technology? It’s not difficult to spot just how much technology has impacted how we communicate. Particularly in the workplace, where strong communication is essential to success. Here is a brief look at how communication has changed in the workplace in the last 50 years, and the role technology has played in it.

1960-1990

In the 1960’s workplace communication was primarily restricted to in-person meetings. We valued the importance of meeting people directly. And when we couldn’t meet in person, we sent letters or telegrams. We also used the telephone, but back then long distance phone calls were costly and often required the assistance of a telephone operator.

By the 70’s and 80’s computers were entering the work environment, but they weren’t yet affecting how we communicate. And even though we all had a television at home, it was unlikely to be found in the workplace.

1980’s saw the arrival of fax machines. This allowed documents to be transmitted at a relatively low cost. Unfortunately with the fax machine also came spam. But as we all know, the end of the fax machine wasn’t the end of spam. It was just the beginning.

1990-2015

 The 1990’s marked the decade that mobile phones became mainstream. They weren’t exactly smart phones, but they freed us from having to be in the office to communicate.

But it was the introduction of email in the late 1990’s that revolutionized how we communicate at work. If we wanted to contact someone, we were no longer restricted by location, time zone, or cost.

By the early 2000’s companies were beginning to use intranets. While originally used for housing internal documents, the intranet eventually evolved to an internal communications platform. We also saw companies begin incorporating video technology into their business.

By 2010 new technology seem to be introduced every week and smart phones were everywhere. Fax machines had long been replaced with scanning technology, and the introduction of chat tools like Yammer once again changed how we interacted. We no longer needed to sit besides someone or speak on the telephone to have real time communication. These tools all help launched a new remote workforce.

And while all these modern conveniences were great, there was concern that we were interacting and communicating more with technology than with each other. Successful tech vendors slowly began to realize that the key wasn’t to abandon technology, but to evolve technology to make it more human and interactive.

Enterprise video technology has been one of the most successful communication technologies in the workplace. Internally, it has changed how companies communicate and interact. For example, large corporate meetings can now be held online. Enterprise video has also improved employee training and on boarding. Best of all, it has reduced a lot of business costs such as travel and meeting room expenses.

2015-and Beyond

While it’s difficult to predict where technology will take us, some things we know for sure. The workplace will continue to become more globalized. Hence, we will be dependent on technology and applications that can connect us with anyone, anywhere, and at anytime.  Companies will also need to have immediate return on their technology.

Conclusion, as humans, we will still need some level of face to face interaction. Even with the idea of an office-less office, we will still need to collaborate and communicate with real people, in real time.